"Bulls"eye

By: Vince Vitale

The Chicago Bulls are a dynasty, if there is a team that fits that term...

Well at least they were.

But in the 2007-2008 season, they are nowhere close to that term. This years Bulls are closer to the term, “joke”. Not anymore though, thanks to a recent deal that sent their frontcourt to Cleveland which may have a new outlook on this team. Ben Wallace underachieved to say the least in the windy city so his so called “presence” will not be missed. Joe Smith was a great midrange scorer, but he is replaced with Drew Gooden, an overall better player than Smith. The Bull’s are going through a new phase, something the city of Chicago has never seen before.

They have been through the “Beautiful Bulls” days with Michael Jordan. They went through the “Boring Bulls” days with Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler. Then they went through the “Baby Bulls” days with the young backcourt of Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon, along with small forward Luol Deng. Now their going through a new phase, the one I like to call the “Blooming Bulls”. They’re a team that has not yet realized their potential.

The Bulls have a streaky backcourt with Kirk and new edition Larry Hughes, assuming Ben Gordon will come of the bench. Kirk Hinrich still isn’t playing as well as he can and Hughes will provide great perimeter defense. Ben Gordon is an incredible scorer but has a streaky shot. The Bulls frontcourt will improve when Luol Deng comes back from injury and Drew Gooden steps up at the power forward position. Deng will start to get back into his pre-injury form, which consists of the ability of having a great midrange shooter and an athletic driver. His defense is great as he usually checks the opponent’s best scorer. Gooden, a physical mid range scorer will also bring a new look to this team. His rebounding and inside presence will be needed tremendously, especially with the departure of Ben Wallace. The only toss up for this team is the center spot. That spot may be filled in by two rookies, Aaron Gray or Joakim Noah. Both need work and they’ll have to step up in games to get better if the Bull’s are to reach the postseason.

The bench along with Gordon includes backup point guard Chris Duhon. He is a solid backup point guard and provides depth to the Bulls guard position. Thabo Sefolosha is a guard/forward whose game is streaky. He has the tools and athletic body to be talented in the league but his turnovers set him back. He is not as streaky as electric forward, Tyrus Thomas who has been questioned since he got traded to the Bull’s on draft day. Thomas is a game changing player who blocks shots and dunks on people almost every night. But Thomas’ inconsistent play has often led him to watch the game from the sideline. The Bull’s best bench player besides Gordon would have to be forward Andres Nocioni. He is a physical player with a great jump shot along with an amazing drive. He is important to the Bull’s success.

All and all the Bulls can be very dangerous if they can learn to use their talent in the right way. I can only see things looking up from this point on. As they bloom into what could be the start of something beautiful.